How The Mind Really Works: 10 Counterintuitive Psychology Studies

As a future clinical psychologist, I found the article How The Mind Really Works: 10 Counterintuitive Psychology Studies, to be very interesting. A common misconception about psychology is that it’s “common sense” and “not important compared to other career fields.” However, this believe isn’t accurate because psychology surrounds us, and gives important insight on ways that humans behave. These next 10 studies prove that psychology isn’t common sense, and our brains can often trick us, even if we do not acknowledge it.

The article begins with 1. “Cognitive dissonance is the idea that we (as humans) find it hard to hold two contradictory beliefs, so we unconsciously adjust one to make it fit with the other.” In a classic experiment, students were separated into two groups to complete a boring task. The one group of students completed the task for money and the other group completed for less money. The group that was paid less actually enjoyed the task more because their unconscious thoughts convinced them of it. The students unconsciously rationalized their actions by thinking, “If I didn’t complete the task for the money, I did it because I enjoyed it.” This unconscious belief is counterintuitive because people tend to immediately assume the task which paid more was more exciting.

2. Humans tend to associate hallucinations and paranoid thoughts with serious mental illness, such as schizophrenia. Conversely, statistics now show that hallucinations and paranoid patterns of thinking aren’t uncommon with “normal” people. These new statics are counterintuitive because people who classify themselves as “normal”, people without mental illness, share many of the same symptoms as the people they’re judging.

3. The placebo effect is when people think they’re experiencing symptom relief from a pill/medicine, but the pill they’re given has nothing beneficial in it. An example includes people who claim their headaches are immediately gone after swallowing Advil. However, Advil takes at least 15 minutes to start working. The placebo effect is counterintuitive because people tend to forget how our mental perceptions shape how humans physically feel.

4. One of the most famous psychology experiments in history was conducted by Stanley Milgram. In the experiment, there were three people, two of them being actors. One actor acted as an authority figure in a white coat and the other actor sat in an electric chair. A non-actor participant was given orders from the perceived authority figure to shock the man in the electric chair. Even though the participant felt guilty, he continued to allow the man in the chair to receive deadly shocks. The shocks weren’t actually hurting the actor, but the participant didn’t know that. Over 63% continued to give electrical shocks because they felt like they couldn’t say no to an authority figure. This experiment is counterintuitive because people think they know how they’ll react in situations, when it may actually be the farthest concept from the truth.

5. On many occasions, humans exhibit choice blindness. Choice blindness is counterintuitive because people believe that they’re in control of their actions, but many times, humans are uncertain why they did something. People then try to cover up their actions with rationalistic lies that they convince themselves are true.

6. and 7. There are many beliefs that are commonly told but aren’t necessarily true, due to recent psychology research. The belief that fantasizing about the future helps achieve success and brainstorming helps create better ideas, are commonly seen as good ideas. However it’s a counterintuitive concept, because new finding prove that fantasizing about the future creates laziness. It lowers a person’s drive to achieve greatness if they already can envision it in the future, it produces less ambition. Brainstorming often creates an awkward environment when people think as a group because of the fear of judgment.

8. and 9. It’s counterintuitive that many times humans believe “bad thoughts” can be suppressed by simply not thinking about what’s making them upset. However, the opposite result occurs when people try to not think about something, the bad thoughts come back stronger. People are often told that multitasking damages their ability to focus on something. On the other hand, new research suggests that with practice, people are able to multitask better.

10. It is counterintuitive that people tend to believe that it’s the big events in our lives that produce the most happiness (weddings, deaths, births, etc.), when it’s the small things. Some small things include chronic stresses at work or every day traffic on the way home from work. The small happier moments like good nights of sleep and healthy relationship activities, help create more positivity in peoples’ attitudes and lives.

Men Defining Rape: A History

It’s counterintuitive to belief that our generation has abolished ridiculous laws just because our society has highly developed since the past. I was traumatized to read in the article, Men Defining Rape: A History that many men, including men in powerful political positions, blame women for getting raped. I thought to myself, “How could a woman who was raped, a victim, be blamed for a violent act against her?” The article explains how women had to suffer the harsh consequences for a crime they were a victim of. It’s sickening to know the actual criminals, the rapists themselves, pleaded crime-free after their assaults. The article goes through time periods starting from 1780 BC to now, describing how “laws” were made through the years to permit rape. Although, the laws consistently had loop-holes that still allowed rape to continue.  “As recent as last year, a House Republican pushed to limit taxpayer funding of abortions by excluding non-“forcible” rapes from federal abortion funding.” Although their plan failed, it leaves many people wondering is there a difference between forcible and non-forcible rape cases? Rape is sexual intercourse without consent. So whether it’s forced or not, it’s wrong if there’s no consent and unwanted. Although there’s been small victories over the years with adjusting the law regarding rape, there’s a lot more justice that needs to be served.

Vancouver combats heroin by giving its addicts the best snack in the world

It’s counterintuitive for the government to allow the drug Heroin to be used for “medical” purposes in Vancouver, when the drug is also banned by the same government almost everywhere else. Doctors and clinical workers who participate with helping drug abusers get their daily fix, claim it’s keeping the rest of the community safe. The logic behind allowing heroin addicts to receive their drugs in a safe environment, is so the drug users don’t use violence to find the drugs/money for the drugs. The employees located in “Downtown Eastside” of Vancouver, help administer the drug, supply clean needles and supplies. However, there has been an overwhelming amount of criticism for allowing drug dealers to use deadly drugs without consequences. Is the government sending mixed messages and advocating drug abuse? Many people feel negatively about the government’s decision to provide heroin, and the people want their questions answered. I found this article and news report to be a fascinating topic that I’m able to formulate many opinions on.